Dirt Pic: piglets weaned in the nick of time

John and Martha Spear started a small all-natural grass-fed hog farm in the 2000s on their land near the Au Sable River in Upper Jay. They sold the meat at the farmers market in Keene under the name Yellow House Farm.

Here they are with one of their five sows, "Dot," with some of her first litter with us, in spring 2008. Martha writes:

John built the barn by hand with a lot of help from friends. We worked so hard those years, and had great fun, but when it came time to start a family we decided we couldn't do both. We traded in the pigs for a little boy in fall 2008. He is now 5½ years old and the light of our lives.

Shortly after this photo was taken, by Nancie Battaglia, a day after the piglets were weaned, John and Martha came into the barn to do morning chores and found that 400-lb. Dot had passed away peacefully in the night.

Our neighbor who had a Bobcat came and hauled her away for bear bait. That's the North Country.

Dirt Pics are an ongoing series – farmers, gardeners, and food lovers telling the story of agriculture one photo at a time. Send your photo – hopefully with a person in it – along with a little story of what's happening in the photo, people's names, and the name of the photographer to david-at-ncpr-dot-org. and PLEASE no blurry photos! Thanks!